Thank You
by Mrs. HopeEstheim
Summary: Valentine's Day gifts were being distributed among the members of the Women's Association after a meeting and for a while, a certain someone is feeling left out. One-shot, 1300-ish words. Kind of fluffy. Shunnao.


**This is a Valentine's Day one-shot that I did literally in about a half an hour, so I hope it's okay.**

**This is for Akai-Miko! It's posted a day late (at least here) but I promise it was actually completely typed on Valentine's Day. It's a short one, but I kind of like it, so I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Ise Nanao shook her head with a sigh at all of her fellows in the Women's Association. They were swooning and moping over some of the men, and the pink, red, and white hearts adorning the meeting room gave the somewhat uptight lieutenant a good idea why. Nanao stood and wondered why she had to be there as Yachiru dragged in a large bag and made a beeline for the busty lieutenant of the tenth division.<p>

"Ran-chan!" said the bubbly little girl, "Look at all your Valentines!"

"I knew it," Nanao mumbled under her breath, sitting down in her chair. She couldn't bring herself to stand up any longer when she was going to be forced to watch Valentine after Valentine come in for Rangiku and other women who were just as sexy as she.

No, Nanao was _not_ jealous. Not in the least.

She just reasoned that it would be _nice_ to get at least one piece of chocolate from a member of the opposite sex on a certain February day of each year. After all, Nanao did have a weakness for the little treat, and in fact she actually preferred dark chocolate. It was just the right amount sweet and perfectly bitter…but of course, no one knew that. And it didn't really matter that no one knew, because Nanao wouldn't be getting anything for Valentine's Day, anyway. It was always the same, and she had grown used to it. It didn't bother her at all.

"Look, Ruki-chii!" Yachiru bounded over to Rukia, dumping a small pile of chocolates into the short girl's lap. Nanao wondered for a split second how the eleventh division's lieutenant could come up with all of her nicknames. Sometimes it seemed that the nicknames changed depending on the cheerful girl's mood.

Nanao forced herself to finish making a record of the meeting that had preceded the passing out of the various Valentines that had arrived whilst they had actually been discussing important matters. Once done with that, she took another glance out of the room, closing her notebook with a snap. And, not for the first time, Ise Nanao felt positively alone in a room crowded with her cheerful, chatty companions. For most of the female shinigami, Valentine's Day was a day to look forward to and anticipate almost year-round. They always had some kind of admirer; even Yachiru tended to get chocolates from Captain Zaraki! Yet for Nanao, she rarely got anything. And if she did get something, it was from her friends among the women, and even then mostly from Momo, Isane, Rukia, and Kiyone.

The distracted lieutenant of the eighth division just kind of stared down at the cover of her notebook without really seeing it, lost in thought.

_I sound so foolish_, she scolded herself mentally. Really, why was she internally whining over such a trivial matter? Whether or not she got chocolates or flowers on Valentine's Day was not an indicator of _anything_ whatsoever. Certainly it would make her feel a bit more appreciated, but that wasn't really necessary. All that mattered was that Nanao continue to do her job as usual, with precision and skill and in a timely manner. What did it matter that she didn't have any admirers of the opposite gender?

"Nana-chan! Nana-chan, pay attention!"

Nanao didn't realize that Yachiru was addressing her until the little ball of energy got tired of calling her and flicked the older lieutenant in the forehead.

"Hey!" the bespectacled woman said indignantly, rubbing her forehead. "What was that for?"

"You weren't paying any attention, Nana-chan!" the girl pouted at Nanao, and instantly the eighth's lieutenant felt terrible. The thought escaped her mind when something was shoved at her. "I was trying to give these to you!"

If Nanao weren't such a poised woman, her chair probably would have toppled backwards with her still in it. As it was, she managed to keep her balance and pull the object in her face away so she could see what it was. And even then, with her vision completely unobstructed, the startled woman could only sit and stare disbelievingly at what had been dumped into her lap and forced into her hand.

In her hand, Ise Nanao held two roses; one was pink and one was red. They were tied together with a ribbon which was red with little white hearts. It was so gaudy and she would have thought it was tacky were she in the same sour mood as before, but now she just thought it was kind of cute. And sitting on her lap was a traditional heart-shaped box of chocolates. What she loved most about it, though, was the fact that they were primarily dark chocolates. It was the first time she'd gotten something like this, and she could feel her cheeks begin to redden.

"Aw, look at that!" Rangiku's voice rang out obnoxiously. "Nanao's got an admirer!"

Various women came over to gush and giggle and Nanao felt so _awkward_ because she had never been in this situation before. But, if she was honest with herself, she actually didn't mind the attention very much. Not when she was this happy.

The only thought that dampened her spirits for the next fifteen minutes, before all the women dispersed, was how embarrassing it would be to carry these items back to her division.

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><p>Nanao and Momo walked together with Rangiku, all three of them making light conversation. Nanao had decided that walking with them would make it less embarrassing for her, because Rangiku had a large bag of gifts from her many admirers and Momo had gifts from three or four different people. The somewhat shy lieutenant of the eighth division wouldn't stick out too much now that she was walking with two other women who also had Valentines.<p>

When the trio reached the eighth division, she split away from the other two after agreeing to meet up with Rangiku later in the week for drinks. Nanao wouldn't actually drink, of course, but she'd make sure that her fellow lieutenant didn't get herself into too much trouble. It was the least she could do for poor Captain Hitsugaya.

"Captain!" Nanao called as she pushed open the door to the office the two of them shared. She had been expecting to startle him out of a nap, but to her surprise she found him quite awake and, for once, sitting behind his desk.

"Yes, my dear little Nanao?" he said, leaning back in his chair. Once more to her surprise, Nanao spotted the tell-tale ink stains on the pads of his fingers that signified that he'd actually been doing his paperwork. That grin, however, was the same flirtatious half-grin as usual, and Nanao forced her eyes to roll.

"Have you really done your paperwork, or did you just make it look like you did?"

"Ouch," he held a hand over his heart. "You wound me, Nanao! And here I was, hoping to get at least a little thank you for everything!"

The woman sighed, pushing her glasses up on her nose. She then turned her gaze up, trying to find some way to begin her sentence. Her eye caught something white, and she turned toward it to see that it was on her desk. Her first irrational instinct was that there was a stack of papers on her desk, but then she realized that it was actually a white rose. It would perfectly compliment the pink and red roses she already held. And in an instant, she realized where her Valentine's gifts had come from.

After all, Kyoraku Shunsui was really the only person who knew her so well.

Nanao pretended to ignore him, walking over to place her two roses next to the white one. The chocolates were placed right alongside them. She then made her way to her captain's desk on the pretense of checking to be sure he'd actually filled his paperwork out.

He seemed genuinely surprised when her lips pressed against his cheek for a few long seconds before she pulled back and said, "Thank you, Captain."

The brunette let a smile cross his face and he replied, "Happy Valentine's Day, Nanao-chan."

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><p><strong>Here we go! My second ever Valentine's Day one-shot for this pairing! I can't remember the other one very well, though...so I hope they're both okay. Haha!<strong>

**Anyway, thanks so much for reading!**


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